Modeling and imaging of biomechanical properties of breast using microwave pulses

A closed-form theoretical model for the biomechanical properties of breast tissues under the influence of external pressure is derived and validated. That model is employed in a microwave imaging method that aims at extracting the three-dimensional biomechanical properties of breast. The high contrast in the biomechanical properties between healthy and malignant tissues represents the basis of the presented imaging method. In this method, the breast is inserted in an enclosure that has an array of ultrawideband (UWB) antennas embedded in the upper movable plate of the enclosure. Each of those antennas transmits an UWB pulse towards the breast and measure the backscattered pulse before and after compressing the breast by a controlled force applied at the top of the movable plate. A sliding-window cross-correlation is used to get a three-dimensional strain image of the breast. As lesion tissue is much stiffer than the normal breast tissues the regions of zero strain indicate areas of suspected tumor. (C) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 53: 2761-2765, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.2644